In the past, techniques for converting electromagnetic energy, such as, solar energy, to electrical or to mechanical energy usually involved a flat plate collector wherein fluids or gases were circulated to carry away the heat energy thus received. These solar collectors absorbed energy only in the near and far infra-red spectrum leaving much of the visible spectrum unavailable for heat production. Moreover, these systems generally did not use the generated heat for driving electromechanical devices, such as, turbines, and generators.
Rhodes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,577 a solar converting apparatus wherein halogens such as iodine or bromine are introduced into a sealed enclosure and irradiated with solar energy. The solar energy was converted to heat and utilized to heat a fluid passing through a pipe. Again there is no teaching of how such converted energy could be directly used to drive an electromechanical device such as a turbine or generator.
Still further efforts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,998,205, 4,024,715, 4,026,112, 4,175,381 and 4,426,354. Such additional efforts have certain drawbacks. For instance, fuel and oxidants are required. Also, additional processing steps are oftentimes required.